Celebrating their big day apart this year? Let them know you're still thinking about them with these great ideas for celebrating a birthday long distance style.
1. Spend your birthday together, even though you are apart by sending a birthday celebration package! In your package, make sure to include cake mix, candles, matches, streamers, balloons, and a romantic movie. Prepare your own party with the same movie and treats. (For those who aren't "baking" oriented, send your partner some special birthday cookies instead.) For an extra touch, have dinner delivered to your love at the same time you have yours delivered. At a prearranged time, call your love on the phone so that you can share your celebration together.
2. Hop in the car or on a plane and surprise them with the best gift of all – you! You could surprise them at their office, call them from the airport, or if you have access to their home, be waiting inside with dinner and a romantic bath for two.
"For my birthday last year, when my boyfriend and I lived apart, I was expecting a phone call, but he surprised me by calling me from the airport! He’d flown in just to spend my birthday with me. That night, he blindfolded me and fed me fondue, having me guess what I was eating. He carried me to the bathroom where he had a candlelit bath for two waiting. After our bath, he gave me a body massage. It was the best surprise birthday celebration ever!"
--submitted by Anonymous
3. Send them a package or letter with directions for a little adventure. Give them clues (like scavenger hunt clues – specific directions or riddles) that will take them from their home to their birthday surprise! You could direct them to a local bakery to get the birthday cake you pre-ordered for them, to a restaurant for a special birthday meal, or to a store where their birthday gift is waiting. If you know the area where they live, you could make the walk to their surprise part of the birthday experience. There are endless options limited only by your creativity for this idea, think old some classic movies such as Elizabethtown -- a super original romantic comedy where Kirsten Dunst takes Orlando Bloom on an adventure across the country without being with him.
4. Plan a countdown! Send them small gifts leading up to their birthday. They can be notes, sentimental tokens, small gifts, or pieces to a larger gift.
"Last year for my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day, I decided to do something different. I bought one of those little kid puzzles from the toy store, the ones that have like 15 pieces. I spray painted the entire puzzle white. After the paint was dry, I wrote a date on the front of each piece. On the back, I wrote what happened on that date. I did a puzzle piece for the first time that we met, our first kiss, the first time he met my parents, etc. We had a long distance relationship, and so I started mailing him the pieces. When I went out to visit him for Valentine’s Day, I brought him the final piece. All of the pieces were finally together, and I'd brought a frame with me so we could keep the puzzle forever. I told him that we fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. He thought that it was the sweetest Valentine's present that he had ever gotten."
--submitted by Beth
5. Send your love a framed picture of you, or of something to remind them of you. It can be sweet, silly, or even sexy!
"I went to the Dominican Republic for a while without my boyfriend. It was hard on us being apart, so one day while lying on the beach I decided to write, I (Heart) and my boy's initials in the sand. I used seaweed and other grasses from the water to trace the message. I took a picture when I was finished. I bought a 5 x 7 light colored wooden frame and hot glued on some shells I had gathered. I then put the picture centered on a piece of aqua paper and in blue ink typed out the quote, "I wrote your name in the sand, but the waves washed it away…", glued it above the picture and then put the remainder of the quote, "...so I wrote your name in my heart, and that's where it will stay" underneath the picture. After I got back, I gave it to my boyfriend when he was having a bad day and it cheered him right up!"
--submitted by Lindsay
6. Send them out for a night out with the guys/girls. Make reservations at a restaurant, send tickets to a show, or even for a day at the spa. Make it extra special by doing things like calling the restaurant to have a bottle of champagne sent to their table or have a personalized cake, card, or gift delivered to them. Those extra little touches will make it feel like you're there with them.
7. Send them a homemade gift like a message in a bottle, a scrapbook, a love journal, a love letter, or a box of love.
"I thought of a great way of telling my boyfriend how much I loved him. This idea is particularly good if you know programming. I created a simple program that will pop up a love message each time the computer is started. The messages that popped up included reasons I love him, what makes him so special, etc. I emailed it to him and told him how to install it without telling him what it was. The next time he started his computer he was so surprised! He loved it so much!"
--submitted by Leena
8. Send or text of a video of you. It could be a day in your life, a very special birthday message, or a video of memories, fun stuff, also memes are a lot of fun!
9. Surprise your love with tickets to come to you or meet you somewhere for the birthday celebration! Think extravagant, think unforgettable. You could plan the rendezvous out completely or meet somewhere and discover a new place together.
10. Send them the classic long distance gift – a singing telegram. (and yes you can do singing telegrams 2022/23! here is one: https://www.thebash.com/services/singing-telegram )
